Santa Clara Agrees To NFL's Financial Demands, Eyes '16 Super Bowl

Santa Clara agreed to waive the 9.5% hotel tax for league officials and players

Santa Clara city leaders have "agreed to give up millions of dollars in revenue if they host the 50th Super Bowl in the new San Francisco 49ers stadium, saying private donations and economic activity would net the region a huge financial windfall anyway," according to Mike Rosenberg of the SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS. The Santa Clara City Council tonight in a special meeting is "set to cap months of closed-door negotiations by voting on several resolutions of support for hosting the Super Bowl." The issue for the city was "whether it could afford to agree to a list of financial demands imposed by the NFL." League owners on May 22 will "choose between the Bay Area and Miami to host Super Bowl L in February 2016." Santa Clara, unlike Miami, has "agreed to waive its 9.5 percent hotel tax for about 350 employees of the NFL and the teams playing in the game." The city "anticipates making up the tens of thousands of dollars in lost revenue by selling out other hotel rooms that normally might be vacant." Super Bowl tickets also would be "exempt from two ticket surcharges that will be in place for 49ers home games" after the $1.2B stadium opens in '14. Those include a 10% ticket surcharge -- which "would have raised" about $6M based on current Super Bowl ticket prices -- and "a 35 ticket fee that would have raised about $25,000 to fund senior and youth programs." Additionally, Santa Clara "won't impose a $4.54-per-space parking fee at nearby lots" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 3/19).

BETTER OFF WITHOUT 'EM: A South Florida SUN-SENTINEL editorial stated, "It's smart the South Florida Super Bowl committee late Friday reportedly rejected the NFL's request to exempt league employees from local hotel taxes as part of the deal if the area lands an upcoming Super Bowl." Miami-Dade voters will "likely be asked to raise hotel taxes" by 1% to help pay for $400M in stadium renovations "that the Dolphins say are essential to Miami's bid." To many, this is "welfare for the rich" (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 3/18).